(Woooooooooooooooooooooo!)

You wanna be the man? You gotta beat the man. The Montreal Alouettes are "The Man" in the Canadian Football League and the Saskatchewan Roughriders have been unable to beat them for two years running. Sunday's game was close, and the Riders played well at times, but in the end it was not good enough. One cannot blame the defence. If someone was to say to Ken Miller at the start of the game that the special teams would be gaffe-free and the defence would hold Montreal to two touchdowns Miller would take it in an instant. He would also start sizing his Grey Cup ring. However it was not to be. The offence could not get anything going against the league's worst secondary, missing their starting safety. For the second Grey Cup in a row, Montreal kicker Damon Duval had an absolutely brutal game. He missed two chip-shot field goals, punted for a 32-yard average and had an illegal kickoff. Yet he and his neckbeard were rewarded with a ring because the Roughriders' offence could not take advantage. At one stretch in the second half we had punted on 8 consecutive possessions. I will say that again: 8 consecutive punts. Not good enough. Darian Durant did not have a good game. He seemed to struggle with his reads and his accuracy was off. One never got the feeling that the competitive fire was there with the offence all day. The only exception was Wes Cates who always brings his A game to the playoffs. The gameplan seemed pedestrian at best, predictable at worst. Anthony Calvillo was solid, but not spectacular. He played well enough to win, and fed his playmakers Jamel Richardson and SJ Green. The Montreal passing attack was aided by an unfortunate injury to Rider cornerback Leron Mitchell. Mitchell's absence forced a return to action for Donovan Alexander who quickly reminded everyone why he was benched in the first place.

So where do we go from here? Teams who stand pat in the CFL are quickly left behind as the Edmonton Eskimos found out this year. The Riders need improved play from the defensive end position, and better offensive line play. Wes Cates will probably be a question mark again next year, as will veterans Omarr Morgan, Barrin Simpson and Gene Makowsky. Our special teams were a travesty this year. An absolute embarassment. After Montreal's fake punt on the third and two play I was reminded that the Roughriders did not attempt a single fake kick this entire season. That is inexcusable. Obviously major changes are needed in this area next year. We will have more analysis in the coming days. Check back next week for our final podcast also. I just wanted to get my immediate impressions down while they were fresh in my mind. Chins up Rider Nation and we will talk to you soon.